System for dynamic control with interactive visualization to optimize energy consumption

ABSTRACT

A system for controlling energy consumption. The system may incorporate devices configured on a floor map, a monitor that detects energy consumption by each device, a heat map shown on the floor map, a processor, and a user interface having a display connected to the processor. The heat map may indicate energy consumption in various areas of the floor plan. The floor map with the heat map may be a screen on the display. The energy consumption by each of the devices from the monitor may be calculated by the processor in time that each device is active and in a power rating of the respective device. The energy consumption by each of the devices may be converted by the processor into cost. From a screen, a user may define a virtual and dynamic zone to optimize and control the energy consumption.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/290,349, filed Mar. 1, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/883,521, filed Oct. 14, 2015. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/883,521, filed Oct. 14, 2015, is herebyincorporated by reference. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/290,349,filed Mar. 1, 2019, is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure pertains to devices in a space that use energyand particularly to ways of controlling energy consumption by thedevices.

SUMMARY

The disclosure reveals a system and approach for monitoring andcontrolling energy consumption. The system may incorporate one or moredevices configured on a floor map or site map or BIM or 3D model, amonitor that detects energy consumption by each of the one or moredevices, a heat map or other visualization shown on the floor map, aprocessor, a user interface having a display connected to the processor,and a wearable such as a watch or a body-attached device. The heat mapmay indicate energy consumption in various areas of the floor plan orother structure layout. Levels of energy consumption may be indicated bycolor, shades or patterns of the same color, and so on. The floor map orother kind of layout with the heat map may be a screen showable on thedisplay. The floor map or other representative layout may be that of ahome, office building, factory, hospital, airport, casino, apartment,commercial building, and so forth. A user may have a choice of the kindof layout, representation of level of energy consumption, and the liketo have displayed. The energy consumption by each of the one or moredevices from the monitor may be calculated by the processor in terms oftime that each device is active and in terms of a power rating of therespective device. The energy consumption by each of the one or moredevices may be converted by the processor into cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a diagram that exhibits a flow that visualizes energyconsumption on a map;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a solution flow that may define a virtual regionand control energy consumption;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a screen of a main menu of a subsystem for a homeor commercial building in terms of energy consumption;

FIG. 4 is a diagram that reveals smart phones, tablets and the like forcontrolling remotely the subsystem;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrams of example thermostats and that may be partof local control of the subsystem;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a console with a display of temperatures invarious rooms of a house, of hot water, and more;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of visualization of a system described as a userselects an intended floor map;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of devices configured on floor map from a list;

FIG. 10 is a diagram of energy consumption details on a floor map;

FIG. 11 is a diagram of a heat map visualization screen;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing energy consumption details on the floor mapwith a heat map visualization screen; and

FIGS. 13 and 14 are diagrams of screens that show mechanisms fordynamically adjusting energy consumption in an area.

DESCRIPTION

The present system and approach may incorporate one or more processors,computers, wearable devices, controllers, user interfaces, wirelessand/or wire connections, and/or the like, in an implementation describedand/or shown herein.

This description may provide one or more illustrative and specificexamples or ways of implementing the present system and approach. Forexample, the system and approach may be described in terms of a home andheat map on a floor plan. There may be numerous other examples or waysof implementing the system and approach on various kinds of structures.

The system may incorporate one or more devices configured on a floormap, site map, BIM or 3D model, a monitor that detects energyconsumption by each of the one or more devices, a heat map or othervisualization shown on the floor map, a processor, a user interfacehaving a display connected to the processor, and a wearable such as awatch. The heat map may indicate energy consumption in various areas ofthe floor plan or other structure layout. Levels of energy consumptionmay be indicated by color, shades or patterns of the same color, and soon. The floor map or other kind of layout with the heat map may be ascreen showable on the display. The floor map or other representativelayout may be that of a home, office building, factory, hospital,airport, casino, apartment, commercial building, and so forth. A usermay have a choice of the kind of layout, representation of level ofenergy consumption, and the like to be displayed.

Residential homes, as instances, may have a home automation systemintegrated with security subsystem. Homes may have energy consumptioncontrol in a house related to activation and deactivation of thesensors, and devices attached to the automation system. Devices mayinclude sensors. Devices that are attached to the system may be likedoor and window sensors, window blinds, door locks, lights, thermostat(cooling and heating unit), garage door controls, refrigerator, fans,electric iron, water heater, washing machine, cameras, smoke/gasdetectors, coffee maker, microwave, dishwasher, televisions, and so on.Some of these devices are also connected via binary switches. Somesystems may give details about the overall energy consumption of thehouse. Some systems may try to learn a trend and try to force a settingin the system to optimize the energy consumption but can compromise auser's comfort or take time to change the comfort settings. So thereappears to be a need for a solution that gives full control to a user ongiving flexible, instant and dynamic options to the user to measure andoptimize the energy consumption. There appears no necessarily easy andinteractive approach to visualize the energy/power consumption by theconnected home system, by devices and sensors or by zone/area. Thereappears a lack of a dynamic option to optimize the energy consumption,and a lack of control by an end user relative to energy optimizationoptions. The present system and approach may work by visualizing energyconsumption of the individual connected with home system's devices andsensors or by zone on the interactive floor map and give an option touser to dynamically adjust or reduce energy consumption by percentageand time. Virtually all connected home sensors and devices may beconfigured on a floor map.

Over a period of time, the floor map may show a heat map (which may becolor coded) or other visualization to indicate energy consumption indifferent parts of the home or according to individual devices. Energyconsumption by individual sensors and devices may be calculated bymonitoring the active time and power rating, (watts per day (hours),convert it to kilowatts, usage over a month (days) and calculate thecost). Energy consumption on each device or zone may be viewed by hours,days, weeks, months, or years on the map view. Energy consumption oneach device or zone may be shown as, for example, a cost/currency valuein dollars, watt-hours per day, kWh per day, and so on.

A user may select a heat map region or individual device or can definedynamic region on the floor map to adjust the energy consumption bypercentage and by time. If user selects a region and says to reduceconsumption in the area by ten percent, then the system may internallychange set points to optimize the consumption like dimming lights,adjusting thermostat set points, reducing the fan speed, and so on. Auser may also set a duration for setting changes in that, for example, asetting may be applicable for next three hours or one day, and so on.

A timeline may be shown on the map view and upon selecting a differenttime of the day, the heat map may get updates, and thus the user canclearly see the trend/changes from minutes to weeks and so on.

The present system may show and hide the savings that can be achieved bydoing dynamic and time based adjustments, by showing money that will besaved with dynamic feedback from a system. The system may generaterecommendations and notifications to user to optimize the energyconsumption and based on a user's acknowledgement, the system mayautomatically reduce energy consumption by, for instance, five percent,which can be configurable. The system may be extended to a mobile deviceand cloud platform.

FIG. 1 is a diagram that is a solution flow that visualizes energyconsumption on a map. One may start at symbol 41 and at symbol 42,connected home sensors and devices may be configured on a floor map. Theconfiguring of the sensors and devices may extend to buildings and largepremises. Each device's energy consumption may be monitored by a systemat the background as indicated in symbol 43. Over a period of time, afloor map may show a heat map (color, pattern, shade coded, and so on)to indicate energy consumption in different parts of a home or byindividual device, according to symbol 44.

Energy consumption by individual sensors and devices may be calculatedby monitoring the active time and power (in watts per day or hour) andconverting the time and power rating to kilowatts, usage over a month ordays, and calculating the cost, as noted in symbol 45. Energyconsumption on each device or zone can be viewed by hours, day, week,month or year on a map view in view of symbol 46. Optionally, a timelinemay be shown on a map view, and upon selecting a different time of theday, the heat map may get updates, and thus the user may clearly see thetrend and changes from minutes to weeks, and so on. Symbol 47 mayindicate that energy consumption on each device or zone can be shown ascost/currency value like dollars or by “watt-hours per day” or “kWh perday”. The solution flow may end at symbol 48.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a solution flow that may define a virtual regionand control energy consumption. From a symbol 51 at a start, one may goto symbol 52 where over a period of time, a floor map may show a heatmap (color coded) to indicate energy consumption in different parts ofthe home or by individual device. At symbol 53, a question of whether auser selects a region on a floor map or an individual device to replaceenergy consumption or not. If an answer is no, then a return to symbol52 may be made for its content to be repeated. If the answer is yes,then an option to reduce the consumption by a percentage may be shown atsymbol 54. An option to set the time in minutes, hours, days or weeks,for which a user setting is applicable, may be shown in symbol 55. Atsymbol 56, a system may internally change set points to optimize theconsumption. For instance, if a user selects a region and says reduceconsumption by ten percent, the system may internally change the setpoints to optimize the consumption like dimming lights, adjustingthermostat setpoints, reducing a fan speed, and so on. The user may alsoset a duration for the changes (in that a setting can be indicated to beapplicable, for example, three hours, one day, and so on). The solutionflow may end at symbol 57.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a screen of a main menu 11 of a subsystem for ahome or commercial building in terms of energy consumption. FIG. 4 is adiagram 12 that reveals smart phones, tablets, wearable devices, and thelike for controlling remotely the subsystem. FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagramsof example thermostats 13 and 14 that may be part of local control ofthe subsystem. FIG. 7 is a diagram of a console with a display oftemperatures in various rooms of a house, of hot water, and more. Theitems of FIGS. 3-7 may contribute to dynamic control of a connected homesubsystem by interactive visualization to optimize energy consumption.

Energy consumption may be calculated. For example, a living room lightmay be in an ON state for 11 hours a day on the average. Thisinformation may be read from the system's activity data, user actiondata and overall history data. One may assume that energy consumption bythe living room light is 40 watts. A formula to calculate the energyconsumption may be 40 watts×11 hours=440 watt-hours for 11 hours in aday, 440 watt-hours for 11 hours a day/1000=0.44 kWh per 11 hours in aday, 0.44 kWh per 11 hours in a day×30 days=13.2 kWh per month, and 13.2kWh per month×$0.10 per kWh=$1.32 per month.

A solution visualization of the system may be described as a userselects an intended floor map 21 in a display of a smart phone or tablet22 shown in a diagram of FIG. 8, that may configure devices on floor map23 of FIG. 9 from a device list, get energy consumption details on floormap 23 of FIG. 10 with a heat map visualization screen 24 of FIG. 11,get energy consumption details on the floor map with a heat mapvisualization screen 25 in FIG. 12, dynamically adjusts/reduces energyconsumption screen 26 in FIG. 13, and dynamically adjusts/reduces energyconsumption screen 27 in FIG. 14. Screens 21 and 23-27 may be presentedon a display of a smart phone 22, tablet or the like. Screens 24-27 mayshow costs of energy consumption for the various devices.

The user may select the intended floor map in screen 21 of FIG. 9. Theuser may select his/her home's floor map as a visual input to configuredevices. The map may be any visual reference that user for a house (2D,3D, image CAD file, and so forth).

Configuring devices may be noted on a floor map in screen 23 from adevice list. A user may drag drop a device and sensors from a list ontothe floor map based on a physical location of the devices and sensorssuch as, door and window sensors, window blinds, door locks, lights,thermostat with cooling and heating units, garage door controls, powerpoints using binary switches (refrigerator, fan, electric iron, waterheater, washing machine), cameras, smoke/gas detectors, and so forth.

Energy consumption details may be noted on a floor map with heat mapvisualization of screen 24. The borders of various levels of consumptionare rough lines reflecting an actual difference between areas in termsof energy consumption. Energy consumption by category (high, medium,low) or by device may be visualized by day or week or month or yearenergy consumption may be shown as currency value like dollars ($) or by“watt-hours per day” or “kWh per day”.

Energy consumption details may be noted on a floor map with heat mapvisualization of screen 25. The lines reflecting the differences ofenergy consumption are smoothed into geometrical changes such ascircles, ovals and the like. Energy consumption by category (high,medium, low) or by device may be visualized as in screen 24

One may dynamically adjust/reduce the energy consumption, as shown inscreen 26 of FIG. 13. Screen 26 resembles screen 24, except it has anenergy consumption adjuster 28 along with a savings indication 29.Adjuster 28 may be set for a ten percent reduction of energy consumptionfor three hours. It may show and hide the savings that can be achievedby doing the dynamic and time based changes on adjuster 28. It is likeshowing money that will be saved with energy consumption changes.

On selecting each group or device, there may be two options, one toreduce/adjust the consumption by a percentage and the other option toset it by time in hours/days (like the setting is applicable for next 3hours or 1 day, or the like).

A timeline 31 can be shown on the map view, as in screens 26 and 27, andupon selecting the different time of the day, the heat map may getupdates in that a user can clearly see the trend of a day, and similarlytimeline 31 can be extended to days, weeks, month, year and so on.

A dynamic adjust/reduce the energy consumption screen 27 is shown by thediagram of FIG. 14. Screen 27 can resemble screen 26 except adjuster 28may have a different reduction of energy setting and be in another areaof a home with a different rate of energy consumption. Also, a timesetting for the energy consumption may be made. Indicator 29 may reveala new monetary savings.

For instance, a user may define a virtual zone on the floor map ofscreen 27 and reduce ninety or one hundred percent for next two days.Here, the use case may be a certain part of house that will notnecessarily be used for next two days due to the offspring being gone onfor vacation, or some maintenance activity going on at the house or thelike.

With a visual indication, a user may differentiate a change in thepattern as the details are shown on floor map. For example, usually justthermostat (heating and cooling) use may take more energy consumptionthan normal in a day but then suddenly, the map may show a lighting areataking more energy (red area in heat map) which could indicate apossible insulation issue, a faulty device, or so on.

The present system may be extended to any structure like hotels,corporate buildings, apartments, commercial buildings, and so forth.

The system may provide recommendations to optimize energy consumption bysending notifications, such as SMS or e-mail.

Visualization and optimization controls may be done from a mobile devicesuch as a smart phone, tablet, web portal, desktop system, a wearabledevice, an intrusion panel/keypad (e.g., Tuxedo™), and the like.

The present system may provide an option for flexible schedules based onthe need. The system may aim to visualize energy consumption byhouseholds and give a dynamic options and recommendations to controlthem.

Dynamic grouping of devices may optimize energy. Instantly, a user maysense a change of energy consumption and take preventive actions.Visualization may help the user to see energy consumption patterns andcost details of each device so that a user can plan energy usage. Thevisualization may be easy to implement, as it may require a simplesoftware change that most of the eco systems could use.

The present system may add a competitive advantage to all offerings likeValue Net™, Total Connect™, Evohome™, Lyric™, Tuxedo™, and so on. Thesystem may also be extended to offerings like DRAS, EBI, and so forth.

The present system may work by visualizing energy consumption byindividually connected home devices, or by zone on the interactive floormap and may give an option to a user to dynamically adjust, such asreduce, energy consumption by percentage and by time. The present systemmay be based on an intrusion detection system, home automation systemand connected home system, and it can be made into practice in the ValueNet, Total connect, evohome, Lyric, tuxedo products/services andsolution can also be extended to offerings like DRAS, EBI, and so on.

System features may be noted. The system may visualize the energyconsumption by devices on a user's home floor plan. The system may givean option to a user to make the energy optimization actions instantlyand dynamically. The system may give full control to a user on takingany energy optimization actions instead of forcing the settings in thesystem. The system may give a feedback on the saving that is going tohappen based on the correction that the user did. The system may allow auser to define a virtual zone on the floor map to take action for energyoptimization. The system may show a timeline and playback controls onthe visualization map view.

To recap, a mechanism for monitoring and controlling energy consumption,may incorporate one or more devices configured on a floor map, a monitorthat detects energy consumption by each of the one or more devices, anenergy consumption map shown on the floor map, a processor, and a userinterface having a display connected to the processor. The energyconsumption map may indicate amounts of energy consumption in variousareas of the floor plan. The floor map with the energy consumption mapmay be a screen showable on the display.

The energy consumption by each of the one or more devices from themonitor may be calculated by the processor in terms of time that eachdevice is active and in terms of a power rating of the respectivedevice. The energy consumption by each of the one or more devices may beconverted by the processor into cost.

The cost for each device of the one or more devices may be shown on thefloor map.

The cost of energy consumption of the one or more devices may be shownin terms of one or more zones encompassing one or more devices,respectively.

An entry into the processor to change energy consumption of a device ora region of devices by a predetermined proportion, may cause theprocessor, which receives input about energy consumption from themonitor and provides an output to control the devices, to optimizeenergy consumption at the pre-determined proportion.

Control of devices may be selected from a group of actions incorporatingadjusting setpoints of one or more thermostats, dimming and turning onand off lights, changing a speed of one or more fans, and controllingsensors, window blinds, door locks, garage door controls, refrigerator,electric iron, freezer, water heater, washing machine, cameras,smoke/gas detectors, clothes dryer, dishwasher, microwave oven, stove,water filtration system, water pump, coffee maker, toaster, wastegrinder, televisions, intrusion detectors, actuators, devices attachedto a binary switch, and remotely controllable switches.

The processor may indicate via the display what actions were effectedfor optimization of energy consumption by the predetermined proportion.

An approach for controlling energy consumption, may incorporateselecting a floor map of a building as a visual input to configuredevices, configuring devices to be placed on the floor map from a devicelist, dragging and dropping the devices from the device list based on aphysical location of actual devices of the floor plan, determiningenergy consumption on the floor plan with a heat map visualization, anddynamically adjusting the energy consumption with settings of thedevices. The heat map may show an amount of savings achieved bydynamically adjusting the energy consumption.

The approach may further incorporate selecting a group of devices forwhich energy consumption may be adjusted by a pre-determined percentageof decrease or increase of energy consumption.

An adjustment of energy consumption may be set according to a time ofstart and finish.

The times of start and finish may be uniform for some time periods andnon-uniform for other time periods.

The approach may further incorporate defining a virtual zone on thefloor map, and reducing energy consumption X percent for a duration oftime for the virtual zone.

The approach may further incorporate differentiating a change in patternon the heat map of the floor map visualization. If the change in patternis unanticipated, a check for a cause of the change may be sought.

A system for controlling energy consumption may incorporate avisualization of energy consumption on a floor map, and a mechanismconnected to devices in a building configured on the floor map. Thefloor map may show a heat map to indicate energy consumption indifferent parts of the building according to the devices in thebuilding. Energy consumption may be calculated by the mechanism fordifferent parts of the building.

Energy consumption may be expressed in power used per unit time or bycost in terms of a currency.

A heat map region may be selected and its energy consumption may bedefined by percentage and time.

A user may determine that energy consumption be reduced by X percent.The mechanism, in response to the determined reduction of consumptionenergy, may change setpoints of lights, thermostats and other energyconsuming devices in an optimal fashion. X may be a number.

The heat map may incorporate a timeline which records heat map datathrough a set period of time. The heat map from data over time mayreveal trends and changes on the floor map.

The mechanism may show savings that can be achieved by dynamic and timebased adjustments.

The optimization mechanism may generate recommendations or notificationsfor optimizing energy consumption.

The mechanism may be monitored and controlled with a mobile device and acloud platform. The mobile device may be selected from a groupincorporating a smart phone, tablet, web portal, desktop system, awearable device, and an intrusion panel/keypad.

Any publication or patent document noted herein is hereby incorporatedby reference to the same extent as if each individual publication orpatent document was specifically and individually indicated to beincorporated by reference.

In the present specification, some of the matter may be of ahypothetical or prophetic nature although stated in another manner ortense.

Although the present system and/or approach has been described withrespect to at least one illustrative example, many variations andmodifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art uponreading the specification. It is therefore the intention that theappended claims be interpreted as broadly as possible in view of therelated art to include all such variations and modifications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for controlling energy consumption in astructure, the method comprising: receiving input via a user interfaceto adjust the energy consumed in an area of the structure by a set ofdevices in the area to a value; in response to receiving the input,determining an energy consumption configuration for the set of devicessuch that the energy consumed by the set of devices meets the value; andautomatically adjusting operation set points of the set of devicesaccording to the energy consumption configuration determined.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving input defining avirtual zone of the structure; and wherein the virtual zone is the area.3. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a map of thestructure on a display, wherein the map is sectioned into a set of zonesand the area includes one or more zones of the set of zones.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein energy consumed by the set of devices isshown for a selected time along a timeline on the map.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising determining the energy consumed by the setof devices.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the energy consumed isshown as the energy consumed by the set of devices per day.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the input received via the user interfacefurther includes: a time at which the operation of the set of devices isto be adjusted such that the energy consumed by set of devices meets thevalue; and a length of time that the set of devices are to operate suchthat the energy consumed by the set of devices meets the value.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: generating, on a display, arecommendation to optimize the energy consumed by the set of devices;and the input via the user interface to adjust the energy consumed inthe area of the structure by the set of devices in the area to the valueincludes an acceptance of the recommendation.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the energy consumption configuration for the set of devices isconfigured to optimize the energy consumed by the set of devices.
 10. Adevice for controlling energy consumption in a structure, the deviceconfigured to: receive input via a user interface to adjust the energyconsumed in an area of the structure by a set of devices in the area toa value; in response to receiving the input, determine an energyconsumption configuration for the set of devices such that the energyconsumed by the set of devices meets the value; and automatically adjustoperation set points of the set of devices according to the energyconsumption configuration.
 11. The device of claim 10, wherein thedevices if further configured to receive input defining a virtual zoneof the structure, the virtual zone is the area.
 12. The device of claim10, further configured to determine the energy consumed by the set ofdevices.
 13. The device of claim 12, wherein the energy consumed isshown as the energy consumed by the set of devices per hour.
 14. Thedevice of claim 12, wherein the energy consumed is shown as the energyconsumed by the set of devices per day.
 15. The device of claim 12,wherein the energy consumed is shown as an amount of money it takes forthe set of devices to operate.
 16. The device of claim 10, wherein theinput received via the user interface further includes: a time at whichthe operation of the set of devices is to be adjusted such that theenergy consumed by set of devices meets the value; and a length of timethat the set of devices are to operate such that the energy consumed bythe set of devices meets the value.
 17. The device of claim 10, furtherconfigured to: generate, on a display, a recommendation to optimize theenergy consumed by the set of devices; the input via the user interfaceto adjust the energy consumed in the area of the structure by the set ofdevices in the area to the value includes an acceptance of therecommendation; and the adjustment of the operation of the set ofdevices according to the energy consumption configuration is in responseto the acceptance of the recommendation.
 18. A system for controllingenergy consumption in a structure, the system comprising: a set ofdevices located in a first area of the structure; and a deviceconfigured to: receive input via a user interface of the device toadjust energy consumed by the set of devices to a value; in response toreceiving the input, determine an energy consumption configuration forthe set of devices such that the energy consumed by the set of devicesmeets the value; and automatically adjust operation set points of theset of devices according to the energy consumption configurationdetermined.
 19. The system of claim 18, the device further configured todetermine the energy consumed by the set of devices.
 20. The system ofclaim 18, wherein the input received via the user interface furtherincludes: a time at which the operation of the set of devices is to beadjusted such that the energy consumed by set of devices meets thevalue; and a length of time that the set of devices are to operate suchthat the energy consumed by the set of devices meets the value.
 21. Thesystem of claim 18, the device further configured to: generate, on adisplay, a recommendation to optimize the energy consumed by the set ofdevices; and the input via the user interface to adjust the energyconsumed in the area of the structure by the set of devices in the areato the value includes acceptance of the recommendation.